kiss me once cause you know i had a long night
by poisonrationalitie
Summary: mandy's had a long day and a late night.


**A/N For the Quarterly Event Sticker Collection. Rare Stickers - Halloween #1 - Bat: write about something happening at night.**

"There's blood on your parchment."

"What?" Mandy jerked suddenly, and her quill pulled across the page. A line of black ink trailed behind. "Helga," she swore loudly. "This is the day I'm having." The ink disappeared promptly. Mandy tilted her head back, looking up, and saw Anthony smiling down at her. His hair was mussed, and he wore a pyjama top. _Weird, _she thought passingly. He brandished his wand.

"Thank you, Anthony," he said, not unkindly.

"Thanks." She smiled apologetically. "Where was the blood?"

"Near - 'tree'," he said. "Parchment cut?" Mandy shrugged. It hadn't been her lucky day. She'd woken up late, then struggled for ideas. Once she got into her groove, she'd spilled coffee on her manuscript and had to rewrite it. She still hadn't had any lunch, but her sense of hunger was only vague. She rested her elbows on her desk and cupped her chin in one hand, setting her quill aside with the other.

"There's only two weeks until this needs to be done," Mandy told him, as if they hadn't gone over it a thousand times. "I can't afford to be late. Dina wants it out by the end of November." She blew out air. Pieces of her manuscript were scattered all over her desk, along with empty ink pots, broken quills, and letters from the publishing office. "If I blow this, I might never get another chance, Anthony. It has to be good."

She felt her hair fall around her shoulders. Anthony's fingers were combing through the knots. Mandy relaxed back into the chair and shut her eyes, trying to think happy thoughts. _Think about the little girl who dressed up as Lila. Wasn't that sweet?_.

"Your first book was amazing. You've been writing since you knew how, Mandy. There's not a kid alive in our world that hasn't been read _Lila and the Ocean, _and it'll be the same with your next book. Trust me."

"I do," Mandy said. "Trust you, I mean."

"Thank you," said Anthony. "I do read all day. I would hope I'd be somewhat good at telling the good from the bad by now. Does this mean you're ready for dinner now?"

"Dinner?" she echoed, eyes flinging open.

"I thought so," he said, gently untangling his fingers from her hair. He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose gently.

"Thought so," he said. "Mandy was on Planet Lila. It's fairly late."

"I started writing at…" she looked up, thinking. "One? Oh, damn it." She rubbed her temples, eyeing the parchment distastefully. Another day, wasted. She let out a long sigh, and got out of her chair. The curtains of the study were closed, but she could tell that it was night outside, even with candles lit. Anthony's hair caught the soft light, and his arms were crossed. But he was smiling at her. She had to smile back. They'd only been living together for a little while now, and it still thrilled her to know that he was there, with her. "Thank you."

"I had noodles for dinner. I didn't want to interrupt you," he said, shutting the door behind her. Their living area was small, sharing space with a small table and kitchen. If not for their parents' insistence, they wouldn't have had a study. Though the Catholic Brocklehursts and the Jewish Goldsteins disagreed on much else, they both agreed that the young couple ought to have separate bedrooms, at the very least. So, if in name only, the study was Anthony's bedroom.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm not really hungry." She tilted her chin upwards, stretching her back. "I'm sore, though."

"I bet," Anthony said. "Me too. I'm knackered."

"How was your day?" Mandy asked, walking into their real, shared bedroom. It was then that she saw he'd been working in there this afternoon, given her total occupation of the study. He was much neater than her, however. There were a pile of books next to his bed, and the rolls of parchment were tied neatly and sat on his bedside table. "Does this mean you're getting closer?" she asked, turning to him. There was a shimmer in his eyes that suggested a _yes. _

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I've nearly got everything, I think. I'm just doing one last comb-through to make sure I can squeeze everything out, before I go looking through the muggle archives."

"That's great," she beamed. The fact that he was down to only a few texts was great - had he still plenty more to analyse, he wouldn't have been bringing them home.

She walked over to the window and paused, looking outside. A smattering of cars were parked on the sides of the road, reflecting the dull yellow streetlights. It was waxing Autumn and got darker earlier every night. "It feels weird not to be at Hogwarts, doesn't it?" She heard him walk over, and felt his hand on her waist. She leaned back against him, relishing in his warmth.

"Yeah," he said. "It does. I didn't expect that."

"Really?" she asked, frowning.

"It's been a year and a half," Anthony said. "I didn't think I'd miss it anymore. I mean, I wouldn't go back, but I didn't expect to...miss it as much as I do." She considered this. A lone figure walked through the night, still dressed in officewear. _Muggles, _she thought. She was glad she wasn't one. Mandy didn't fancy walking through Bristol alone at night, and thanks to magic, she would never need to.

"Time's weird," she said absently. "Take tonight." He laughed, and tapped her nose.

"Time's weird in Lila Land, I agree," he said, and she looked up at him, revelling in his grin. He kissed her softly on the mouth. She returned it. He held her waist and pulled her close. Their noses bumped, and she laughed a little. They stumbled backwards towards the bed, and Mandy grabbed her wand from the table and waved it, extinguishing the light.

"Godric," she said. "I need a good sleep. My brain's all like...a big knot."

"You don't want to shower?"

"I'm tired," she said, wiggling against the bed. "Is that okay?"

"Of course." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders, and kissed her forehead. She shut her eyes. "Sleep well, my love."

"Goodnight," she murmured, already drifting off.


End file.
